Menards trains review

[@joshuacampbell9990]

For the money, I feel the Menards trains are great!

[@charliestrainset-wx6zz]

@@joshuacampbell9990 for sure 100 percent agree👍

[@DJBREIT]

I agree with this. It is the best-priced "O" gauge train out there.

[@RixTrax]

I believe the Menards Diesel are modeled after the F-7s, while the Lionel’s are FTs. The Lionel FTs are scale in size as the FT diesels in real life were shorter than the F7s. As far as the quality issues, in my experience, the Menards products look in expensive. The use of decals instead of printing really put me off. I have two of the Lionel FT diesels. A Super Chief and a North Pole Central. They both run great. I recently installed a Lionel Base 3. The Base 3 can be programmed to run Bluetooth locomotives using the Base 3 app or a Legacy remote. I was happily surprised to experience measurable improvements in the speed controls of the Bluetooth locomotives using the Base 3. This is a very informative video. Thank you.

[@charliestrainset-wx6zz]

@@RixTrax Thank you and you're welcome

[@johnandrus3901]

Also, those look like passenger F7's. They have the steam generator section on the rear, including the stack. I think that they are quite nice looking locomotives. They are the value buy, for those who can't afford Lionel or MTH, but want some decent trains. They are a fine way to start your O gauge journey.

[@danshobbies13]

That’s the model I want to get. If Bachmann would have invested into Williams trains, this is what they could have made. But Menards took over where Williams left off.

[@charliestrainset-wx6zz]

@@danshobbies13 I like pennsylvania stuff that's the main reason I got it

[@johnandrus3901]

Bachmann killed Williams and Lionel killed K-Line. They were two affordable alternatives to the more expensive Lionel and MTH offerings. Menard's has filled that gap superbly.

[@mikemiura7740]

Awesome intro to these Menards units! I noticed the gap between the A and B is real wide. But no prob. I purchased lots of Menards rolling stock and have been happy(for the price- shipping is high though). Had wheel issues and had to relocate the air tank on the belly of the box cars

[@charliestrainset-wx6zz]

@@mikemiura7740 yeah shipping is pretty high I hope one day menards will be everywhere

[@garypetreskysr4947]

I had recently purchased a set of (4) Lehigh Valley box cars, a single green LV box car and a single Reading box car and all of them had issues with the trucks. I had to remove the box from the frame, remove the truck from the frame and tighten the (4) screws on the truck that hold the wheels. I used blue Loctite on the screws to make sure they stay put. On the Reading box car one of the wheels were pressed on crooked and wobbled when rolling. Look OK in my opinion but the truck/wheel quality is poor at best. Took amount an hour to get them road worthy.

[@charliestrainset-wx6zz]

@@garypetreskysr4947 they definitely do need better quality control but it's still a pretty good deal considering they're only 25.00 each

[@johnandrus3901]

Very nice! The Menard's engines are pretty good, really. They run fairly well and look quite decent. The nylon gears are no big deal and will last almost forever, with just some basic care. The only comparison to Marx should be in the affordability of the locomotives. Marx was the value buy, with very simple drive trains, compared to Lionel. Many of the later Marx offerings were basically S scale, running on O gauge track. As far as the cars go, I think that they are a good buy. I believe that the box cars are old AMT tooling, which, over the years, made its way through Williams and K-Line and eventually, Menard's. All of the cars are of pretty good quality. I've never been a fan of the 'thumbtack' uncoupling mechanism. If you have an uneven spot on your layout, they can come uncoupled if the thumbtack makes any sort of contact with the center rail. Tiny rubber bands or those for braces, will fix the problem. You can get K-Line or Williams trucks on eBay, fairly cheap. Either way, Menard's is to Lionel and MTH what Marx was to Lionel, back in the day. An excellent video, for sure.

[@charliestrainset-wx6zz]

@@johnandrus3901 thank you

[@spacetruckerrob]

I like it , but should have painted Brunswick Green for PRR

[@charliestrainset-wx6zz]

@@spacetruckerrob that would look good I hope they make a NYC next

[@cecilyoung5042]

The Menards diesel locomotives are F P 7 diesels ( F Passenger diesel 7 ) and the prototype was much longer that the freight F 7 diesel locomotive ,as modeled I am very happy to see this diesel version of the F P 7 diesel locomotive is being modeled in O gauge .

[@charliestrainset-wx6zz]

@@cecilyoung5042 cool 👍

[@DRCRailroard]

Cecil, I believe you have your manufacturers confused. The F7's were built by GM's EMD division primarily for freight service. They never made an FP7. They were 4 axel diesel electrics. GM EMD( General Motors Electro Motive Division), the car manufacturer, also built E units like the E7's, E8's for passenger service. They were twin engine 6 axel diesl electric locomotives. GM is credited with the first successful diesel road engine that led to the demise of steam engines. The F units were even called car body design. The FA, freight, and PA, passenger diesel electrics, which looked similar to the GM EMD designs from that same period, were built by Alco (American locomotive company). They were the only successful steam engine builder that successfully made the transition from steam to diesel before their demise when General Electric parted ways with them to build their own diesel electric locomotives. Gm dominated the diesel electric engine market from 1940 to 2012 before selling off to Caterpillar who promptly killed it off. Because General Electric became the dominant engine builder by then. Primarily because of their EPA compliant diesel engine design untill they sold off to Wabtec in 2019. As far as I know there are no engine builders left in America anymore. All of the engines used for freight and yards today are older rebuilt GM and GE engines.

[@johnandrus3901]

@@DRCRailroard EMD offered the F's with steam boilers for passenger trains. You can see the boiler section on the Menard's units, with the stack on the rear. Santa Fe was a big buyer, as they liked the F's, because of their wheelbase and better tractive effort, due to the lack of an idler axle. You can find examples on the internet.

[@DRCRailroard]

​@johnandrus3901 Yes John, the early EMD F units were a dual service road engine. They had steam generators because the passenger cars were heated by steam. The passenger cars at that time were equipped to function with steam engines and remained the primary source of heating passenger cars long after the end of steam engines. The role of EMD's F units had more to do with it's paint scheme. It's understood that the early red and silver Warbonnet paint schemes, as used on the early F units, were used for the Super Chief and El Capitan passenger service. Which passenger service was the pride of all the roads as it was their primary source of revenue at that time. They even had washing stations and washed the engines down between excursions and touched up the silver paint on the trucks. The early Bluebonnet F units were considered freight engines, but I'm sure both engines were likely used in both roles as passenger service was slowly dying off along with the role of steam engines. My point was that EMD's early system for identifying locomotives had nothing to do with it's role unlike Alco. EMD's. FT simply stood for fourteen hundred twins. F3 stood for fourteen hundred, the third rendition, and they were only rated at 1350 HP, not even 1400. Go figure. Later, E units were 1800 hp as they had two 900 HP diesel prime movers. F did not stand for freight, and E did not stand for express as some people will tell you. On the other hand, Alco's FA 4 axel units, the F stood for freight A stood for cabbed A unit. Their PA, 6 axel diesl, the P stood for passenger, and A stood for an A cabbed unit. EMD's early identification system had no direct corelation to it's purpose until the introduction of their BL units which was a direct response to their competitor Alco, who came out with the first ever successful road switcher engine at the request of some of the major roads. Up untill that time engines had specific designs for specific roles, likely due to steam designs for road, freight, passenger, and switching tasks. Hence the need for round houses and turn tables so a particular engine could easliy be put into service. Alco came out with their RS-1 which literally stood for road switcher, by extending the frame on their switcher engine to add a steam generator with road trucks. They literally tacked on a short hood to the back of their alco S-2 switcher that EMD ridiculed Alco for the design and wa la the first ever dual role, multi purpose engine. It's a cool looking engine. I have an Atlas O model of it. It's the precursor to Alco's more successful RS-3 design. EMD's less successful BL unit, which stands for Branch line, was the precursor to their very successful GP units and stands for general purposes better known as geeps. It wasn't my intention to suggest that the F units weren't used for passenger service but that EMD never produce an early FP unit like the Menards model that was used only for passenger service, but that Alco's PA was designed for passenger service and that the EMD's and Alco's are two different builders that made similar looking engines in the same era.

[@johnandrus3901]

@@DRCRailroard Just like the C and W stood for cast and welded, respectively. The original S stood for six hundred hp and the N stood for nine hundred hp. They ended up just naming their switchers S-Series and dropped the hp designation.

[@EngineerEd-xt2qu]

I have a few locomotives from Menards and I like them very much. I believe that Menards are going to improve all the cars with better trucks with springs I think they are waiting to run out of the old stock to run out but they are improving. I did subscribe to your channel.

[@charliestrainset-wx6zz]

@@EngineerEd-xt2qu thank you for the info and the subscription 👍

[@EngineerEd-xt2qu]

@@charliestrainset-wx6zz your very welcome

[@trainman5323]

F7’s and FT’s are not the same size pro-typically. FT’s are shorter. I’m not sure the Menards products will hold up over time. I don’t imagine that engine will be operational without issues in 10 years. I run trains that are over 60 years old.

[@michaelhband]

👍👍👍❤❤❤🚂🚂🚂

[@richardnelson-ux1zz]

I'm sorry you're not happy with menards rolling stock I use kadee o gauge model number 150 knuckle couplers I agree all of menards rolling stock should have metal frames and diecast trucks with steel wheels menards trains are more close to 027 gauge post war lionel trsins all my trains are made by menards including all my buildings and rolling stock

[@charliestrainset-wx6zz]

@@richardnelson-ux1zz I think there boxcars are good and so is the caboose. The plastic trucks don't bother me it's the fact the knuckles want stay closed.

[@johnandrus3901]

I don't think that there is anything wrong with plastic trucks. They work quite well and roll nicely. The couplers can be an issue, though, but it isn't limited just to Menard's. I've used rubber bands on couplers on cars from the post-war period onward.

[@charliestrainset-wx6zz]

@@johnandrus3901 there not that bad I think it's the way the knuckle is made they bind up in curves